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motivation monday

It’s the beginning of May. That means we’re close to halfway through 2016 already. If you’re like me, you might be wondering where the time has gone and why you aren’t closer to achieving the goals you set months ago. In the past, I’d get to this point and throw my hands in the air, telling myself that I’d screwed up once again and I’d try to do better in 2017.

But why? Why should I waste eight months of babysteps forward because of four months wasted? And were they wasted? Or were those months I needed in some way to set myself up to succeed? I’m honestly not sure, but without really setting out to do so, I spent some time this past weekend thinking about where I went wrong and how I can turn that around.

There is no right time

Yes, I know that’s a direct contradiction of this post’s title, but hear me out. With so many things in our lives, we say it’s not the right time. We want to start a family, but not until… We have dreams, but we can’t dare to make them reality until… We want to change our lives, but that change won’t happen until…

Until is a dreadful word. Why? Because until tells the universe that we aren’t ready for them. And it’ll put up roadblocks, “helping” us justify all the reasons we can’t do what we want to do.

Instead of thinking about all the reasons you can’t do something, find one reason you can do what you want to do. Maybe you can’t sit down with your morning cup of coffee and churn out the next great novel by the end of the month, but you can turn off the television and write for an hour every night. Maybe you’re out of shape and won’t be running a marathon within the year. But could you reach for a glass of water or step outside for a walk?

Life isn’t going to slow down for you. You need to tell life that now is the only time for you to get started on whatever it is.

Walk Before You Run

This is a big one for me. When I start anything, I jump in with both feet. Into the deep end. Without making sure I can swim. Sometimes, it works out well, but most of the time, my energy fades fast and I stamp one more failure into my memory as a way to remember what happens when I dare to dream.

Set realistic goals. Personally, I know I want to eventually be able to run a marathon. I’m not sure if it’ll happen, but I do know it’ll never happen if I stay on this couch all day. It also won’t happen today if I put on my running shoes and step out the door. I have to work myself up to it. So, today I will put the leash on the pup,

Personally, I know I want to eventually be able to run a marathon. I’m not sure if it’ll happen, but I do know it’ll never happen if I stay on this couch all day. It also won’t happen today if I put on my running shoes and step out the door. I have to work myself up to it. So, today I will put the leash on the pup, stuff earbuds into my ears, and restart C25K. Tomorrow, I’ll do it again. Eventually, I’ll make the first goal, which is a 5K race.

Blogging is another place where I know what I want to do, but I’ve gone about it all wrong. I love blogging. When I stopped doing it, I missed it. But that doesn’t mean I can jump back into blogging fulltime. Hell, if you look at the posts from this year, you’ll see how many times I’ve tried to jump into the deep end with this goal. So, for now, my goal is to sit down one morning a week and write something. That’s it. One blog post on Monday morning to kick off the new week. Once that’s a habit, I’ll go on to doing two posts. Over time, I’ll build my stamina and be consistent.

Stay Positive

This is a hard one. When I worked in customer service, we were constantly reminded that people are more likely to talk about a negative experience than a positive one. I can’t remember the exact stat, but I think it was something like three times more likely.

I’ve found the same to be true in personal interactions. How many times do we sit around and bitch about everything that’s going wrong? Yes, it makes us feel better at the time, but does it really help? I used to think it was BS that the energy you put out to the world is what you get back. Then, I met my own personal Pollyanna. She’s there to listen to me when I need to vent, but never allows me to dwell on the negative. She’s such a positive person, I once threw a stack of notebooks at her for being a perky morning person.

We got past that minor assault, and eventually, I realized she was onto something. I’m not great at being positive all the time, but my life is so much better when I am! This shit works! Seriously, find that person you can celebrate your joys with, even if it’s something as minor as being able to have a cup of coffee in peace or waking up to see the sun shining. If you don’t have that person, leave a comment below and we’ll all celebrate together!

The point of all of this morning’s rambling is that right now really is the right time to do whatever you’ve been thinking about doing. Whether you’re reading it on Monday morning or a Thursday six months from now, it’s the time. What is one thing you can do today so you’re closer to being where you want to be?